Orangeside Triggerfish: Named for Its Golden Cheeks

The orangeside triggerfish is a tidy reef fish marked with a warm yellow-orange wash across its lower face and side. Like all triggerfish it rows along with its fins and can lock itself into a crevice. Here's how to spot one snorkeling near Jacó, plus five fun facts.

Orangeside Triggerfish · Sufflamen verres

How to spot the orangeside triggerfish near Jacó

Look over rocky and rubble bottoms for a medium-sized fish rowing along with its top and bottom fins, with a yellow-orange band running back from its mouth. The orangeside triggerfish tends to stay near the bottom, nosing for food, and will duck into a crevice if it feels crowded.

5 fun facts about the orangeside triggerfish

• Golden cheeks give it away. A warm orange-yellow band across its lower face and side is the quickest way to tell it from other triggerfish.
• The classic trigger lock. It can raise and lock its stout dorsal spine to wedge itself into a hole, making it nearly impossible for a predator to remove.
• A fin-powered cruise. Like its relatives, it swims with a rippling motion of its top and bottom fins, saving its tail for quick bursts of speed.
• A bottom forager. It hunts crabs, worms, urchins, and other small bottom creatures, often blowing sand aside to find them.
• An Eastern Pacific native. Unlike some wide-ranging triggerfish, this one belongs to the Eastern Pacific, right at home along our coast.

The orangeside triggerfish is just one of many characters down there. See the whole cast in our Snorkel Jaco fish directory, or read real guest photos and reviews on the Snorkel Jaco reviews.